News

We will close the N2, threaten fed-up residents

More than 1,000 residents of KwaMsane in Mtubatuba, KZN, took to the street last week to demand services. After years of fruitless complaints and meetings, the protesters plan to close the N2 on Thursday.

Ntombi Mbomvu

News | 23 November 2015

Khayelitsha commuters blast Metrorail

Khayelitsha residents are fed up with the poor public transport servicing the township, especially Metrorail. Activist organisation, Public Transport Voice (PTV), held a public meeting on Saturday at Masibambane Hall in Harare to voice their concerns.

Siyavuya Khaya

News | 23 November 2015

Meet the Senegalese man who teaches South Africans how to make and sell crafts

Seeing how many unemployed young people there are in Imizamo Yethu informal settlement, Moustapha Fall, originally from Senegal, decided to teach them craft skills.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 23 November 2015

Masiphumelele gets mobile police station

Hundreds of residents from Masiphumelele, Imizamo Yethu and Hangberg gathered in Masiphumelele High School for the handing over of a mobile police station.

Thembela Ntongana

News | 20 November 2015

School boarders develop their own online kiosk

Three students from the Cape Academy of Maths, Science and Technology have set up an online kiosk for boarders who struggle to access basic necessities while in residences at schools.

Pasqua Heard

News | 20 November 2015

University residences close early

The deadlines for students at the University of the Western Cape and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology to vacate their residences came and went this week with many students refusing to leave.

Thembela Ntongana, Ashleigh Furlongand Tariro Washinyira

News | 19 November 2015

Living in cardboard shacks … inside a hostel

“The condition that these people live in is uncalled for,” says Ward 52 Councillor Mayenzeke Sopaqa. He is describing a derelict area in Section 18, Langa, known as Emaholweni, established 45 years ago in what has become a no-man’s-land, all but abandoned by the authorities.

Photos by Masixole Feni and Liza Kettil.Text by Thembela Ntongana

News | 19 November 2015

Councillor must fall, say King William’s Town protesters

Wheelchair-bound Leilanie Boswell, 38, was one of about 100 Sweetwaters residents who protested yesterday outside the Buffalo City municipality offices in King William’s Town, demanding housing, street lights, a taxi rank and other amenities.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 19 November 2015

Imizamo Yethu residents rebuild after fire

Imizamo Yethu residents who fell victim to a fire that razed numerous shacks and left families homeless a week ago are busy rebuilding their homes after getting some assistance from the City of Cape Town. Shacks belonging to South Africans and Zimbabweans just 200 metres away from Hout Bay police station were burnt to ashes.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 18 November 2015

Hospital CEO under fire after baby’s body found

Residents of Xhorha in the Eastern Cape marched to Madwaleni hospital yesterday, demanding the departure of the CEO after a baby was found buried in the hospital grounds.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 18 November 2015

Report details “state of crisis” in schools for visually impaired children

Schools for the visually impaired are in such a "state of crisis" that their students suffer "fundamental impairment of their human dignity”. This is according to SECTION27’s Left in the Dark report, which was released today, detailing extensive research into the conditions in 22 schools for the visually impaired.

Ashleigh Furlong

News | 18 November 2015

Endlovini residents accuse councillor of breaking promises

Tempers flared last night in Endlovini in Khayelitsha, with angry residents burning portable toilets and blockading the road in a protest over housing.

Siyavuya Khaya

News | 17 November 2015

Insurance shock for parents of disabled Khayelitsha teenager

The parents of disabled Khayelitsha teenager Siphokazi Rululu took out an insurance policy in May last year to cover funeral expenses if they lost their daughter. When Siphokazi died last week, her mother Nomveliso Rululu was horrified to find that the insurance company would pay out R2,000 instead of the R12,000 they had been expecting.

Siyavuya Khaya

News | 17 November 2015

UWC students to meet Chancellor

The FeesMustFall movement at UWC is to meet the university’s Chancellor Archbishop Thabo Makgoba. This was according to Lindokuhle Mandyoli, a representative of the #FeesMustFall movement, who addressed students today.

Ashleigh Furlong

News | 16 November 2015

Robbers target foreign hawkers in Port Elizabeth

Foreign nationals trading in Motherwell, Port Elizabeth, live in fear following a spike in robberies in recent months. The traders say they are being targeted by criminals who rob them of their goods and then sell the loot to locals at a heavily discounted price. Most robberies happen in daylight.

Joseph Chirume

News | 16 November 2015

Living off vegetables from a dump site

Like others in Sobantu township where she lives, 42-year-old Nokhukhanya Myeza wakes up at 5am and dresses for work. But while others put on their best clothes, Myeza gets into old sneakers, torn jeans and an old T-shirt, and walks to the New England Landfill dump site in Pietermaritzburg to search and pick up food.

Ntombi Mbomvu

News | 16 November 2015